Egy...What!?

Hey Everyone,

First post, giving this website a test run. I will first like to put a disclaimer for my poor punctuation, spelling, and use of the English language up front and hope this blog is informational and will be as entertaining as possible.

So like most of you already know, I'm on my way to Cairo, Egypt for a month. This trip came to a surprise to many and some (grandmas on both sides) jokingly tried to tell me to try and find some Arabic speaking community in the states, so I will layout the reason why I am making the trip. The purpose of this trip is to participate in a language and cultural immersion program highly recommended by the FBI, which is the ultimate goal for my future career(also looking into Secret Service and ICE). I had a former teammate in a similar situation as me after passing the first phase and did a program similar to show the FBI he was dedicated and that he was willing to make certain sacrifices to obtain a position to the FBI. Now obviously I won't be fluent in Arabic after a month, but the idea is to get an understanding of both the language and the culture, as well as create a foundation for further education.

The Arab Academy http://www.arabacademy.com/ is the school I will be attending for a month. The classes are five days a week for four hours a day, so I will be getting a heavy steady dose of Arabic The reason I chose this school is because the Arabic instructor at UNM recommended it and said I could get credit for 101 and 102 from UNM in a month as opposed to taking a year of it and that other students at UNM have gone there and live and work out there currently. Based on the time frame and the amount I would be able to complete the course work, I weighed my options and opportunity costs and felt this was my best option. On a side note there was a law suit called NCAA vs. White which is allowing me to get tuition reimbursement for the next three years with 2008 coming to an end in August, so I had to make a move and hope to get the credit for my trip.

Last I would like to say thanks to all my friends and family for the support. I wish all you could be with me, so I will do my best to share my experiences and update this blog often to show you pictures and videos along the way on my adventure. Below are a couple links about Egypt you might want to check out.

Talk to you soon,
Mike

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1108.html

http://www.amcham.org.eg/